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2025 Business Leadership Awards
Since 2001, the Milgard School of Business has celebrated leaders in the South Sound for their positive impact with the Business Leadership Awards.
Recipients will be honored at a special dinner hosted on campus on May 14, 2025.
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Congratulations to our 2025 Award Winners
Business Leader of the Year
Chris Walters, CEO
Gensco
Lifetime Achievement Award
Larry and Virginia Gordon
Gordon Trucking
Gordon Truck Centers
Sustainable Business Leader of the Year
Bett Lucas, Senior Vice President Commercial
Seaport Sound Terminal
Women’s Leadership Award
Jackie Flowers, CEO
Tacoma Public Utilities
Pathfinder Leader of the Year
Marquise Dixon, CEO
Degrees of Change
2024 Business Leadership Awards
Congratulating our 2024 Business Leadership Award Winners
Meet Our Awardees
Business Leader of the Year
Clint Stein, CEO, Umpqua Bank
Clint Stein serves as president and CEO of Columbia Banking System and CEO of Umpqua Bank, and he served as president and CEO of Columbia Banking System and Columbia Bank from January 1, 2020 until 2023’s merger with Umpqua.
Mr. Stein joined Columbia in 2005 as senior vice president, chief accounting officer and controller, and in 2012, he was appointed executive vice president, chief financial officer. In 2017, Mr. Stein was appointed executive vice president, chief operating officer, and he continued to serve as chief financial officer until May 2018. Mr. Stein was named a CFO of the year in 2015 by the Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ), and he was named as a top-100 business leader on the PSBJ’s Power 100 list in 2022.
Prior to joining Columbia, Mr. Stein served as chief financial officer for Albina Community Bank, which he joined following his tenure as chief financial officer at Community Bank. He began his nearly 30-year career in the financial services industry as a public accountant focused on tax and municipal nonprofit auditing.
Mr. Stein currently serves on the Executive Council For A Greater Tacoma, and he is a director on the boards of Washington Bankers Association and Pacific Coast Banking School. He previously served as a board member for the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber of Commerce.
A Northwest native, Mr. Stein earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from the University of Idaho. His post-graduate education includes the Graduate School of Bank Financial Management and the Graduate School of Banking.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Dean Allen, Chairman & CEO, McKinstry
Dean Allen is leading transformative change to address the overlapping climate, affordability and equity crises by relentlessly pursuing Action for Impact across the built environment.
Under his leadership, McKinstry is ushering in a zero-carbon future that decarbonizes our nation’s buildings and energy infrastructure to better serve our communities. As CEO, Dean has grown McKinstry into a recognized national leader in the design, construction, optimization and maintenance of high-performing buildings and energy assets. His passion for collaborative problem solving and community service inspires and mobilizes McKinstry’s national footprint of more than 3,000 employees to eliminate barriers standing in the way of a better built environment. The result can be seen in the company’s innovative South Landing development in Spokane, which sets the benchmark for zero carbon and zero energy at zero cost premium. The development earned 2021 NAIOP Sustainable Development of the Year top honors.
Dean lives McKinstry’s values and has long served his community in various philanthropic roles to make a positive difference. He is particularly driven by global health and education equity under the ideal that all children deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential. Dean is a board member for the Washington Roundtable and serves on the Seattle Children’s Hospital Foundation Board and Research Committee. He is also a Founding Board Chair of Washington STEM.
Dean earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Molecular Biology and in Psychology from the University of Washington. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Eastern Washington University.
Non-Profit Leader of the Year
Dona Ponepinto, President and CEO, United Way of Pierce County
Dona is currently the President and CEO for United Way of Pierce County. Dona joined UWPC in January of 2014 and brings over 30 years of experience within the United Way network.
Since taking the reins in Pierce County, Dona led a ground-breaking three-state research project on the financial stability of families known as ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), spearheaded the creation of the yearly, From Poverty to Possibilities summit, and launched the Center for Strong Families, that focuses on helping families increase their income, decrease expenses, build credit, and acquire assets. Currently, in partnership with the City of Tacoma, County and DSHS, she and her team are leading another Guaranteed Income Demonstration project.
Prior to joining United Way of Pierce County, Dona was a Vice President at United Way for Southeast Michigan (UWSEM) in Detroit, Michigan. Prior to joining UWSEM, she was with Orange County’s United Way and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.
She is a member of the Junior League Tacoma and is currently the President of the Association of Junior Leagues International. In addition, she serves on the boards of the Tacoma Art Museum, Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital, Coordinated Care, and the Workforce Development Council. In 2019, she was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to serve as a Board of Trustee for Tacoma Community College.
Dona holds a BA in Psychology and a MS Degree in Counseling from Creighton University.
Lifetime Achievement (Non-Profit)
Bruce Kendall, president and CEO, Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County
Bruce Kendall has been a pivotal figure in economic development, serving as the president and CEO of the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County for 25 years.
Since assuming the role in 1999, Kendall has been instrumental in driving significant growth across the region. Under his leadership, Tacoma-Pierce County witnessed the creation of new jobs, the arrival of new companies, substantial state highway investments, and the development of cultural landmarks, including securing the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. He has been recognized for his resilient leadership during economic and public health crises, and for advancing equity and diversity in economic initiatives. His contributions have earned him widespread respect and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Museum of Glass. Celebrated for his optimistic leadership and significant impact, Kendall is set to retire soon, leaving behind a legacy of enduring community development.
Sustainable Business of the Year
René Ancinas, Chair & CEO, Port Blakely
As Chair & CEO, René leads Port Blakely, a multi-national renewable forest products company. In this role, he oversees the company’s long-term business strategy, advancing its vision to cultivate a healthy world and ideals of good corporate and environmental stewardship.
René joined the fifth-generation, family-owned Port Blakely in 2005, serving in various leadership and operations roles in the company’s Forestry and Real Estate operations prior to becoming CEO in 2010. Prior to joining the company, as a member of the owning family, he helped establish a sustainable family business governance structure that has become a model for legacy family-owned companies nationwide.
Active in the industry and community, he serves on the boards of directors for the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) and Washington Roundtable, and is a member of the Tugboat Institute, a group of long-term, sustainable businesses that seek to make a long-term difference in the world. Previously, René served on the Boards of NatureBridge and the Seattle Symphony.
A graduate of the Executive MBA program at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, René also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
DEI Community Leadership Award
Lyle Quasim, Civic Leader
Lyle Quasim was born in Chicago, Ill, in 1943 and came to Tacoma, Wa., in 1966 as a member of the United States Air Force Lyle’s public service includes the following:
Director of the Washington State Psychiatric Hospitals and as the Washington State Director of Mental Health from 1979 to 1983 and 1983 to 1987, respectively. Director of the Safe Streets Campaign for Tacoma and Pierce County from 1989 to 1993. Cabinet officer for two Governors as the Secretary of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services from 1995 to 2000. At that time DSHS was the largest agency in state government. Chief of Staff for the Pierce County (Wa.) Executive from 2001 to 2009, and oversaw 16 county departments. President of Bates Technical College, one of the 34 Community and Technical Colleges in the state of Washington. He served at Bates from 2009 to 2012.
Current community engagement:
- Chair -- Tacoma Pierce County Black Collective
- NAACP 1st Vice President
- Chair -- Black Education Strategy Roundtable
- Member -- UWT Chancellor’s Advisory Board
- Board member Greater Tacoma Community Foundation
- Board member Fuse Washington
- Trustee University of Puget Sound
- Board member American Leadership Forum Tacoma and National Board
- Sound Transit Diversity Oversight Committee
Women's Leadership Award
Anne Jones, Owner, Designated Broker, Windermere Abode
As the child of career home builders, real estate has always been a part of my life. When I was 16, I worked for a local firm where I answered phones and updated the paper "MLS book."
Thirty years later, we own a Windermere office and I am able to serve on the NWMLS board, so the journey has come full circle! The way we buy & sell homes has changed significantly during that time, but a few key things remain the same. Representation and relationships matter most — in life, and in real estate! When I'm not working, you can find me running at Point Defiance or traveling with Dave and our two sons. No matter where our travels take us, I know we are lucky to come home to the Pacific Northwest.
South Sound Business Magazine
Special BLA Edition - May 15, 2024
Every year, the Milgard School of Business partners with our wonderful South Sound community to collect nominations for our Business Leadership Awards. Our annual BLA dinner occurs each May welcoming our winning leaders, plus their families and friends to join in the celebration.
